Electric fire prompts Grace Hall evacuation

A photo from Snapchat depicts the fire that broke out in Grace Hall Monday morning. The building’s sprinkler system extinguished the flames before the fire department arrived. (Photo courtesy of Snapchat)

A small electrical fire forced all students in Grace Hall to evacuate Monday morning, according to a report released by university officials.

A fan that was left running sparked the fire, but it was contained to the immediate area in the room. No one was in the room when the fire started.

“There is no cause for further concern,” Public Relations Director Janet Swiecichowski said. “We want to stress that this is not a building wiring issue.”

The alarm was activated at 7:55 a.m., and the building’s sprinkler system was activated five minutes later. The flames were extinguished before the Saint Paul Fire Department arrived just after 8 a.m.

An official statement sent out by Swiecichowski said no one was injured and all safety systems worked “the way they were designed to.” Students were given the all-clear to return to their rooms later in the hour.

Noah Brown can be reached at brow7736@stthomas.edu.